It’s been a busy few days around here. Trying to make the most of our remaining insurance, we’ve all had trips to the dentist. Seeing our coltish boy sprawled across the dentist’s chair with the aged dentist explaining what each of the pieces of equipment does was easily the most Norman Rockwell moment I’ve encountered in a while. I also went in for an eye exam and new pair of glasses. Men, take note: your wives may want input into the selection of eyewear, for as Barry so succinctly put it last night as we were discussing the issue, “you only have to look through them — they have to look at them.”

I took Liam and Abby out for their big days out with Daddy. Liam and I went to Kidzville, Chuck E. Cheese, and Natural Bridge Caverns. These particular caverns are still some of my favorite, as they have some of the most spectacular formations I’ve seen, courtesy of the Edward’s Aquifer. Liam was a bit concerned about descending into the bowels of the earth at first, but warmed to the venture once the initial perilous drop was passed. For our outing, Maggie and I ate breakfast on the square, went to storytime at the library, took a long walk down by the river, and caught Scooby Doo 2, which was every bit as good as I expected. (Which is to say not at all.)

[Ben->] gave me a call earlier in the week to ask if I wanted to go to a Spurs game with him, courtesy of one of his suppliers at work. We enjoyed their Thursday night victory over the Pistons from the 11th row. While I had a nice time, and thoroughly enjoyed getting to spend the time with Ben, I feel that my quota for deafening sporting event attendance has been filled for the next two years.

Last night Kathy and I attended Austin Lyric Opera’s production of The Flying Dutchman with Barry and Catherine, themselves a mere eight days from their wedding. (Getting to go to the show was my birthday present for this year.) It was interesting to see one of Wagner’s earlier works, which don’t display as much of the characteristic use of leitmotif as one generally associates with the composer. The production was quite well-done, and we enjoyed the show and a Thai dinner beforehand a great deal. We topped off the evening by stopping in to visit Jason Young and his wife. Jason is a good friend of Barry’s who I’d met on-line, but never in person. What a treat to spend the evening in such company!

Finally, as my first two weeks of unemployment come to an end, I’m about to get serious about my job hunt. The University job for which I’d been holding high hopes failed to pan out. Since I haven’t found much else locally that would fit the bill, it looks like I’ll likely be driving up to Austin again. I have an interview with Microsoft on Monday for their Austin game studio, and will probably start exploring the more traditional web application/database developer stuff in earnest too. More on that as it happens.